Happy to have been asked to produce this brochure for the Montreal branch of the LLSC in December 2011.
You can see the great work this organization is doing for patients with blood cancers across Canada by visiting the Leucemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada website here.
I wrote this blog post for my work (FundScrip) and I am particularly proud of it. It’s called the New Rules of Fundraising for 2012.
Here’s an email design I created back in October 2011 for Daisy Whitney for the launch of the new cover for The Mockingbirds (paperback) and a sneak peak at the cover of the sequel entitled The Rivals (currently available as a pre-order).
Awesome! I designed a logo for Daisy Whitney back in 2010 and very very pleased that she has used it on her website!
Technology and the world lost an inspirational man on October 5, 2011. I hope that his style of “crazy” lives on forever.
R.I.P. Steve Paul Jobs 1955 – 2011
A sentiment from Seth Godin that I will adhere to and remember every day from now on…
Easy and certain
The lottery is great, because it’s easy. Not certain, but easy. If you win, the belief goes, you’re done.
Medical school is great because it’s certain. Not easy, but certain. If you graduate, the belief goes, you’re done.
Most people are searching for a path to success that is both easy and certain.
Most paths are neither.
Love this so much that I need to place it here so that I never lose it or forget it:
Art is what we call the thing an artist does.
It’s not the medium or the oil or the price or whether it hangs on a wall or you eat it. What matters, what makes it art, is that the person who made it overcame the resistance, ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making. Something risky. Something human.
Art is not in the eye of the beholder. It’s in the soul of the artist.
On September 11, 2001, I was at work at the Chambre de commerce du Mtl métro as usual. It started off as any other Monday morning at work, but by 9:15 a.m. the world had changed and time had stopped.
As we all witnessed the horrific images and endless news coverage, we all knew this would alter our perception of the world and would expose us to the real fragility of humans.
They evacuated Place Ville Marie by 11 a.m., so I picked up Evan early from daycare that day.
As we were walking home, I tried to explain what had happened using only general terms like “the bad guys” and the thing I’ll never forget is that Evan all of 5 years old at the time, said this to me exactly: “but Mommy where were the good guys”.
I often wonder still where (and who) the “good guys” are. (updated)
Richard Vaskelis, 1947-2010
Richard passed much much too early and had tremendous more to give his art but life had other plans. He will be missed by many but will live on through the extraordinary art he left behind. I will be forever touched by his art and was fortunate to have known him. My parents, Gerry and Lisette McGregor will always treasure the moments they spent with Richard.
Excerpt from an interview done with Richard Vaskelis in 1999 by Art Historian Désirée Szucsany for the Pointe-Vue Mont-Tremblant, in Mont-Tremblant, Québec.
L’art n’est pas un refuge, c’est une qualité de vie destinée au plus pauvre comme au plus riche. Les plus beaux moments de ma vie ne sont pas liés à l’argent. La peinture me procure beaucoup d’équilibre. C’est là que je suis le plus honnête, que mon art me dicte le respect. Je ne triche pas, je ne prends pas de raccourci. Je crois en ce que je fais. Pour un peintre, ce qui est important, c’est la vision. Il y a tellement de choses extraordinaires, pourquoi passer à côté? Si tu passes à côté, tu fais comme tout le monde, et tu es juste un peintre. Pas un artiste.
Richard’s Bio:
Born in 1947, and raised in Montreal, Canada, Richard Vaskelis starts at an early age as a part time student at l’École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, then later, on a full time, 3 years scholarship, at the School of Art and Design of the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, under the direction of Arthur Lismer of the Group of Seven.
Vaskelis meets Allan Harrison, R.C.A. in 1979 and for 10 years, Harrison will be his mentor, teacher and friend.
Richard Vaskelis’ paintings are on exhibit in many countries: USA, France, Mexico, Western Canada. He is a member of the prestigious Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts de France and was awarded “Le prix de l’Arc de Triomphe”, in Paris in 2002, for an exhibit at the Carousel du Louvre.
You can also visit Richard’s website to experience his art for yourself.
